ABC News to mirror St. Petersburg Times Scientology investigation on Nightline

St. Petersburg Times reporter Tom Tobin was expected to appear Thursday night in the first of two nights of reports on the Church of Scientology scheduled to air on ABC's late-night news magazine Nightline.

According to a spokeswoman for the show, Nightline on Thursday will feature interviews with at least some of the sources featured in the Times' reporting -- former high-ranking Church officials coming forward to publicly reveal controversial stories about Scientology leadership in a way never seen before. The show also features a recently-recorded interview with church spokesman Tommy Davis.

Friday's story is expected to focus on the celebrity angle of Scientology -- the church has aggressively courted celebrities such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta for decades -- showing how famous names are treated inside the group and examining how Miscavige may be influencing Cruise's behavior, according to the spokeswoman.

Nightline airs at 11:35 p.m. weeknights on ABC, WFTS-Ch. 28 locally. It is likely the Scientology stories will fill 60 percent of each night's show.

About the blog

The Feed is your source for television news, reviews and commentary. A group of Tampa Bay Times writers will blog about everything from their current TV obsessions to the changing TV/media landscape (binge-watching galore!). Let's all geek out over our favorite shows together.

As a wee TV fanatic, Times pop music critic Sean Daly first learned to tell time via Lee Majors classic "The Six Million Dollar Man." On family trips, instead of asking "Are we there yet?" he would inquire of his parents: "How many more Six's?" Thus, the concept of an hour. Adorable, right? Not nearly as cute: An adult Sean wears a Tigers hat not to support Detroit but because Tom Selleck wore one on "Magnum, P.I." It's sad really.

Michelle Stark is a Times writer, editor, designer and unabashed TV nerd. Her millennial TV-watching habits rely on Netflix, Hulu and Amazon instead of traditional cable, but she never misses her favorite shows, which include everything from Girls, Parenthood and New Girl to high-minded dramas like Mad Men and Homeland. She never met a reality dance show competition she didn’t like.

Sharon Kennedy Wynne is a Times writer and editor part of that first generation of toddlers raised on Sesame Street. Her TV tastes are eclectic. She's still a big fan of Sesame Street, but also darker fare like American Horror Story and Scandal. As our resident reality TV fan (though she's ashamed to admit it), she has complex theories on Survivor, Amazing Race and Big Brother strategies.